A Wild Wonderland

by Weston Parker

  He filled me, completely and totally, and then we both collapsed to the mattress.

  It was quiet again between us for a long moment but the comfortable kind of quiet. The one that meant you didn’t fear the silence or the revelations that could come from the absence of sound. It wasn’t until Brayden shifted uncomfortably several seconds later that I even moved my head.

  I looked him over, his contentment still quite obvious across his face. I decided I liked that expression and nodded assuredly to myself before my eyes glided down the rest of him.

  It was only then I noticed how his long, long legs were hanging off of my short mattress, and I couldn’t help but snicker. I would definitely have to look into getting another bed.

  “What’s so funny?” He asked, not defensively but curiously as if whatever was going on in my mind had to be the most fascinating thing since sliced bread.

  “You just look a little cramped, that’s all. I can’t help but feel that my room is definitely not Brayden-sized.

  He shrugged, and she felt the movement through the mattress. “I don’t mind. Good things can come in small packages. Like you.”

  “Aww, you don’t have to try buttering me up. I already slept with you.” Twice, I might add.

  “Hey, it’s not every day you find a pint-sized dynamo who likes to take charge in the bedroom. Never would have guessed you for the dominant type.”

  I blushed, pressing my face into his shoulder. “I’m not usually that way.” In fact, I wasn’t usually sexual at all. “You just bring it out in me.”

  He chuckled slightly, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of my head. “Good,” His voice was low and rumbling, filling her with contentment. “I like that.”

  I murmured something coy back, but I could already feel my eyes closing. I slipped into sleep easily, and my dreams were nowhere as spectacular as my real life.

  Chapter 13

  Brayden

  I looked at the clock again as I went over my checklist for probably the dozenth time. It was six o’clock, and we were quickly running out of time to finish preparations for our party.

  It was the big winter shin-dig that we had every year, and this time, our house had chosen a Wild Wonderland as a theme. The boys were all in costumes from the toy drive, and I had a modified Santa outfit waiting in my closet should I decide I was suddenly in the special-outfit type of mood.

  Unfortunately, Hailey wasn’t going to be present. Originally, I hadn’t been intending on inviting her. Parties certainly didn’t seem to be her thing, and Noah was going to be present as well. That certainly seemed like a recipe for disaster, and one I was glad to avoid.

  But then I had found out through the grapevine that Melina was attending. I couldn’t have her come and then decidedly not invite her roommate, who I was dating. It was then that I’d warmed to the idea of Hailey coming to the party. I was sure she would look great decked out in a winter-themed outfit, rosy-cheeked as she danced and drank our house mix.

  But then she had messaged me back that she had a final paper due and couldn’t fit in both the party and the charity work. I understood, of course, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t disappointed. It would be fun to totally have a wild night with the put together woman, and I resolved to do that before I graduated.

  Time started to pass rapidly as we kept cleaning, prepping, and otherwise driving me nuts. Before I knew it, it was night, and people were starting to arrive.

  We were possibly the only party that didn’t have a majority of fashionably late arrivals. Our shindigs were the stuff of legends, and we often had to enlist other houses in helping us with prep.

  I slid into my role of ultimate host effortlessly, and wandered the house, stopping trouble when I saw it, refilling drinks, and generally schmoozing. I was so in my zone, I didn’t notice Hailey at first, standing by the front door and looking uncertain with herself.

  My mood jumped considerably, and I made my way to her. I had almost reached her when Noah suddenly appeared beside her.

  Shit.

  I tried to shove through people a bit more insistently, but by the time I made it closer, she was already telling him something.

  His expression was not happy, and it took everything in me not to wince as I approached him. The death glare he was affixing me with was so intense, I decided to skip greeting him and just looked right to Hailey.

  “Hey, you wanna head up to my room?” I asked, sending her a smile.

  She nodded, and I grabbed her hand, leading her back to the place we had first tumbled together. My sheets didn’t smell like her anymore, having been washed since she had left, but I could still see her sprawled across them, pale skin vivid against my very dark comforter. It was like she was branded into my brain, but I certainly wasn’t complaining.

  She sat on the edge of my bed, looking uncomfortable. “I wish you wouldn’t have invited me,” she blurted, surprising me as I sat next to her.

  “I’m sorry,” I responded automatically. “I thought it would be rude not to.”

  She sighed and leaned her head against my shoulder. “I know. You’re always so considerate. But then I felt rude for not coming and so now I’m here and I feel so awkward.”

  I wrapped my arm around her waist and gave her a quick squeeze. “I’m sorry, babe. I’ll keep that in mind for the future.” She nuzzled into me, and I was very glad that was over. “So, what was up with Noah? He wasn’t rude to you, was he?”

  “No,” she answered.

  “Oh, what did you say then? He certainly didn’t look happy.”

  “Yeah, I noticed that. It was weird. He came up and asked me if I wanted a drink, and I told him that I didn’t, and then you came up. It was like he was personally offended by your presence.”

  “Ah,” was all I said.

  “Ah?” she questioned. Dammit, I should have known that she could tell something was amiss in my tone. “What does ‘ah’ mean?”

  “Well,” I thought a moment, debating on if I wanted to betray the bro-code. “He might kinda have a crush on you.”

  “What?” Her eyes went wide, and her expression was utterly adorable. “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah. But don’t tell him I told you. That would make things even more awkward.”

  She nodded, but then her expression grew suspicious. “You haven’t told him yet.”

  “Oh, um, no.” I felt guilty for a moment before realizing something. “Have you told anyone?”

  “Who would I have to tell?” she asked with a shrug. “It’s not like I have a ton of friends.”

  “What? That can’t be true. Don’t all you bookwormy, goody two-shoes all stick together like some sort of alliance?”

  “What? No!” She laughed. “If anything, there’s a whole lot of passive aggressive competition and resentment. It’s not very fun.”

  “Huh, I would have thought you all would have been too smart to waste your energy on that. Something about optimizing your effort or something.’

  “You would be surprised how stupid smart people are.”

  “I guess so.”

  We continued to talk lightly, letting the minutes drift away. But eventually, I knew I had to get back to the party and my hosting duties.

  “You need to go downstairs,” Hailey said, watching my expression carefully.

  “Yeah,”

  “Well, let’s go then.”

  “Really? You don’t have to stay.”

  “Well, I’m here, I might as well. Besides,” she sent me a sweet smile. “Melina’s here, so you two can get a chance to hang out. She has so much she wants to ask you.”

  “What? More questions? I didn’t think there were any left after the last time.”

  “Well, she’s a literary major. If there’s one thing she is, it’s inventive.”

  I laughed and offered her my hand. She took it, and together, we walked back down to the party.

  Sure enough, it didn’t take us long to find her friend curled in Jake’s lap on the cou
ch while they talked about a movie that was playing on silent with the sub-titles on. We sat with them for a bit, and it was surprisingly nice.

  However, it wasn’t long before duty beckoned, and I had to leave Hailey with my friends. Hopefully, she would still have a fun time.

  Chapter 14

  Hailey

  I walked along briskly, spurred by both the cold wind trying to penetrate through my winter coat and many layers as well as by the thoughts churning through my mind.

  The previous night had not gone as expected. I had been looking forward to yet another romp with Brayden—I was quickly becoming addicted—but Melina had gotten too sick off of whatever house mix had been in the punch bowl.

  I was more than a bit peeved that Jake hadn’t stopped her, considering he had no doubt known how strong the drink was, but when I found her retching into the kitchen sink, he had been doubled over near the trashcan. I supposed I should be grateful that no one had taken advantage of her, but that wasn’t exactly the type of thing I wanted to be grateful for.

  It certainly spoke to the state of the world that I expected someone to hurt her instead of coming to find me and tell me she needed help. Maybe I was too much of a pessimist, but I didn’t like to think of what would have happened if I hadn’t arrived.

  It seemed I should be even more grateful to Brayden for inviting me. It seemed like he was helping me left and right, even when he didn’t mean to. He was amazing like that, and I wasn’t sure if I resented or appreciated him for that.

  Of course, with Melina unable to even stand on her own, let alone get home, I had no choice but to go with her and babysit. I didn’t resent her for it, but that certainly wasn’t how I had planned for my night to end, and I wasn’t exactly happy about it.

  I had been almost out the door before I had remembered I should probably tell Brayden what was up. I had shot him a message that I had to take Melina back to the dorm to take care of her, and he responded a few minutes later when I was barely out the door. He offered to help at first, of course he did, and when I had politely insisted we were fine and a cold walk would help clear Melina’s head, he had understood that I needed to go and told me to text him if I needed anything. I had been pretty amazed by his mature reaction and found myself wanting to stay with him even more.

  Which scared me.

  Not because I was afraid of him being some sort of evil frat-boy like my dad. I had mostly gotten over that idea. But it was because how ardently and completely I felt things for him. Being with Brayden could erase all my other thoughts, including ones about the charity.

  That so wasn’t me. The only other serious relationship I’d ever had was Derek, and I had never let him come before work, scholastic achievements, or my charities. Things were going so fast, and I was growing so attached, I couldn’t help feeling that I was rushing.

  The thoughts had plagued me all night long while Melina was puking, and I was patting her back, to when I was getting water for her to when I watched her sleep to make sure she didn’t accidentally aspirate and become another statistic. There was no escape from them, no relief, and when I finally awoke again, they plagued me instantly.

  I thought about asking him if this was normal, but I feared he might think I was being pointedly stupid or bizarre. I then thought about asking Melina, but she was still blitzed out of her mind. As much as I loved the woman, I didn’t exactly trust her advice. She was a bit too naïve for my tastes.

  So, I did the one thing that had always helped me in the past when I was confused. I went to church.

  Perhaps some people would be surprised about my seeking solace in the chapel, but I felt no guilt. I had read the bible cover to cover when I was a child, and the message of love, forgiveness, and caring were quite apparent. Jesus, if he was real, didn’t care about one’s virginity status or whether a ring was involved. He just wanted love and kindness. I liked to think that I shined for him whenever I ran a charity, and speaking to him would provide me clarity on the situation at hand.

  I arrived at the campus chapel, which was open as always during the day. Making my way to a pew, I found a seat and sat down.

  Folding my hands, I tried to order my thoughts. I asked for clarification and peace. For the maturity to do what was right, not just what felt good. I wanted to be kind and smart but not weak.

  I didn’t speak aloud, but I didn’t need to. In truth, I was well aware my thoughts could be going to no one at all, but to me, that didn’t matter. There were very few places in the world where I could find solace for my constantly spinning mind, and I would forever be grateful to have found one so close to campus.

  I was there for at least twenty minutes, wearing a spot into the worn cushion of the pew, and while I didn’t really have an answer when I left, I was much more at peace. I certainly needed the calm as I was headed to the library to finish up some toy drive info and print it off.

  Thinking about the charity filled me with my normal passion and determination. We had one week left before our big turn-in, and I could feel the clock hanging above my head. Briefly, I wondered if I could get the frat guys to help get our numbers even higher. My mouth watered at the idea, and I felt galvanized even further.

  We could do this! It was going to be a year to remember, that was for sure.

  Chapter 15

  Brayden

  I woke up early, feeling pretty rested after taking Sunday easy. The party had been a hit as usual, and the only negative thing that had happened was Melina getting so sick that Hailey had to run off with her, and some freshman ralphed in Jason’s shoes.

  I rolled over and checked my phone, eager to see if Hailey had messaged me. She had been decidedly quiet all of Sunday, but I figured that was because she was busy tending to her best friend, resting, or plotting charity stuff.

  I had never been the type of guy to sit by his phone and wait for a girl to message me, but that was exactly the position I found myself in. Seeing a notification from the redhead always made me smile, and I found myself eagerly checking my emails several times a day.

  Yeah, emails. She didn’t even text that often. She was quaintly old-school and, although I had thought it was strange at first, I now accepted it as one of her many quirks.

  Sure enough, there was a little icon sitting at the top of my phone, and I quickly clicked on it. It took a minute to load, and I found myself wiggling out of bed in anticipation. I had just gotten my pants on when it finally showed in full.

  She was excited. I could tell with her first sentence. Apparently, she had had some sort of brain blast while she was in the library and had come up with a completely crazy idea.

  I read her outline of her thoughts and then read it again. She was right. It was absolutely crazy, and I was totally on board.

  I quickly wrote a mass email and sent it to the guys, asking that anyone who wasn’t in class to head to the house. They did, of course, and I found myself looking over about half of our members all crowded in our living room at once.

  Carefully, I explained Hailey’s idea, using her email as a sort of guide. Unsurprisingly, the guys were all up for it. I was incredibly proud of how they were handling the entire charity situation. Never once had any of them complained, and they seemed to put their everything into each of our tasks.

  I finished up by asking them to spread the word to everybody else and then headed to one of the few classes I had left. It was strange to think I would be graduating so soon. What would Hailey and I do then?

  I had never been much concerned about post-college relationships and the idea shook me as I walked to my class. I was so deep in my own mind, I didn’t notice someone was trying to talk to me until Noah’s hand gripped my shoulder.

  “Oh, hey! Sorry,” I blurted, nearly jumping out of my own skin. “I guess I was deep in thought.”

  “It’s fine,” he said, face clearly stating that it wasn’t. “But I kinda wanted to say something.”

  Here it was. I tried not to cringe inwardly and looked
him in the eye. “What’s up?”

  “You and Hailey.” Whomp-whomp, it was exactly what I was hoping it wasn’t. “You guys are a thing, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah,” I answered honestly. No use lying to a brother. Even if I was the type to do it, it was utterly impractical considering that we lived in the same house. “But I didn’t know you had a thing for her until we were already hanging out. By the time I overheard you in the kitchen, well, stuff was already in motion.”

  Noah’s stocky face remained impassive for a moment, and I was sure he was about to turn around and quit the frat. But instead, he shrugged and readjusted the backpack slung over his shoulder.

  “All right then. It is what it is.”

  “Really?” I asked. “Ya sure?”

  “Yeah. The timing didn’t work out, so I’ll just let it go.”

  “All right, well, cool then. I’ll see you tonight.” I was a bit suspicious, but it wasn’t like Noah was the type to lie about how he felt. If there was ever a more honest jock, I had yet to find one.

  Noah smiled, back to his good-natured self. “Yeah. Sounds like a plan.”

  With that, he ambled off, leaving me to hurry to my class before I was late.

  This time I managed not to get so buried in my thoughts that I didn’t notice the world around me, and I happened to cross paths with Dean Kline along the way.

  Normally, I would whip out my phone and slow down until she passed, but I realized I had plenty to say, so I rushed up to her.

  “Dean Kline!” I called, giving her a broad grin.

  “Oh, Mr. Kellar.” Surprisingly, her smile was just as warm, instead of the politely professional one she usually wore. It startled me, and I almost lost my train of thought for a minute. “Miss Martin tells me you’ve been doing great work. I really appreciate how you’ve gone above and beyond anything I’ve ever asked of you. I expect great things to come your way.”

  Wow, uh, what was I supposed to say to that? I was certainly flattered, and if I wasn’t so practiced, I might have actually blushed. “Thank you, Dean Kline. About the charity, has Hailey ran her most recent wacky idea past you?”